2024 Participating Groups
 | | Mid-Atlantic
Capital Blend
Capital Blend formed in the spring of 2008 when several coworkers learned they shared a common interest in singing. Now, consisting of women from a wide variety of professions, Capital Blend is mostly comprised of former college a cappella performers and other musically inclined individuals. Capital Blend performs in and around the DC Metro area at venues ranging from the Washington Nationals Stadium to retirement communities and corporate events. The group's repertoire includes popular music, oldies but goodies, international hits, and original compositions.
Members: Zoe Bluffstone, Caity Gillooley , Alea Bell, Skylar Hamblen, Anya Kaszubowski, Sadie Aram, Julia Clunn, Liz Mueller, Cristina Watson, Brandi Rose, Mandy McHale
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Pacific Northwest
J209
J209 is a contemporary Christian a cappella group with a mission to uplift the younger generations of today. Based out of South Jordan Utah, this brand new group is set to hit the ground running with covers of popular Christian rock songs. With powerful arrangements and compelling harmonies, J209's 7 mixed member group is sure to set hearts on fire.
Members: Jarom Hess, Ethan Holliday, Jimmy Mohlman, Neal Stucki, Abi Urton, Kim Hess, Hailey Murphy
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 | | Chicago
Remedy
Remedy is a co-ed contemporary a cappella group from the University of Dayton. Remedy was founded in 2012 as the University of Dayton's first a cappella group. They have been able to travel, compete, and achieve many awards in different competitive circuits. Remedy has also released an EP, 'The Compilation', on their Spotify in the summer of 2021. Remedy loves sharing their passion for a cappella and is honored to have had opportunities to entertain their audiences across the country.
Members: Ariel Radinovic, Kate Proctor, Kate Tucker, Sarah Spaulding, Cedric Mwizerwa, Deven Cannon, Jeremy Page, Jack Lynch, Evanson Good
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Bay Area
Side Note
Side Note is a fun, funky, exuberant group of friends who jam together every week to sing pop, funk, disco, soul, R&B, jazz, and more. Though their diverse careers (writers, teachers, architects, engineers, dancers, nurses, entrepreneurs) make a cappella a "side note" in their lives, they work hard on their musical craft and are delighted to share it with you - let the good times roll!
Members: Ellen Le, Judy Furth, Priya Vijaykumar, Juan Carlos Martinez, Roi Matalon, Ben Cachapero, Hahns Shin, Richman Neumann
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 | | New York
West Side 5
West Side 5, an award-winning vocal jazz ensemble based in New York City, is known for its refined sound and sophisticated approach to jazz. Inspired by greats like Manhattan Transfer, New York Voices, and The Real Group, WS5 has crafted its own unique sound, characterized by highly original arrangements, complex harmonies, and outstanding musicianship.
The group formed in the summer of 2009, bringing together five old college friends on the west side of Manhattan. They immediately garnered acclaim, winning the Mid-Atlantic Harmony Sweepstakes while being voted Audience Favorite and winning Best Arrangement for "Pure Imagination". They went on to be featured artists at the SingStrong A Cappella Festival, and have performed alongside groups including Blue Jupiter, Streetcorner Symphony, and The Bobs, as well as for Mayor Michael Bloomberg at Gracie Mansion in New York.
Members: Aubrey Johnson, Katie Seiler, Tomas Cruz, Eric Hughes, Dylan Pramuk
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With Special Guests
2024 Bay Area Audience Favorites
Halfway to Midnight
| Halfway to Midnight is a co-ed band of musical misfits who, having missed the thrill of the a cappella world and desiring an outlet to strengthen our individual instruments, serendipitously found each other in the midst of the great big beautiful Bay Area and begun gathering weekly to share in the blend of our voices together. Our life stories are as varied as our voices yet we find common ground in our love of instrument-free music-making and we truly hope you like what you hear. |
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Your Emcee for the Evening 
David Wilner
| David Wilner competed in the Chicago Harmony Sweepstakes with Blind Man’s Bluff and Fiveplay, winning First Place, Audience Favorite, and Best Original Song with each group. During his six years in Blind Man’s Bluff, David toured nationally and recorded five albums. He also spent seven years with the classic rock quartet Ac•Rock, recording two albums. Today, David emcees events throughout the Chicagoland area and performs in the band The Four C Notes. He has been the regional producer of the Chicago Harmony Sweepstakes since 2017. |
2024 Judges
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Whitney Nichole
Whitney is a vocal coach, studio owner, singer/songwriter, and entrepreneur. She is the founder and CEO of Songbird Studios, the leading Vocal Coaching Studio in Northern California, which has a talented team of 20+ Vocal Coaches and Staff, 3 studio locations, and over 400 students. She is incredibly passionate about sharing her love of songwriting, singing and sharing the magic of expressing and creating music with others.
In addition to being the Owner and CEO of Songbird Studios, Whitney is also the creator of the Singing / Straw, a revolutionary sustainable tool that helps singers develop healthier, stronger and more balanced voices. From 2017 through 2020, she also served as Chairperson of the Vocology in Practice Board, global organization of Voice Professionals. More recently, Whitney has created a range of online voice educational programs that have reached thousands of singers around the world. |
Aaron Director
Aaron Director has been involved in a cappella music since the late 1980s and for the past twelve years has been fully immersed as founder and executive director of Acaville, a nonprofit dedicated to a cappella, with streaming radio, a video channel, event coverage, and more. That role has enabled him to sit down with groups across the decades, coach, and teach. As a singer, he has performed with opera companies and jazz combos, and lots in between. When his headphones aren't on, he spends time with his family just outside of Portland, Oregon. |
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Patty Hawley-Pennycook
The baritone of Sweet Adelines International 2003 Quartet Champions, Swinglish Mix, Patty Hawley-Pennycook grew up a barbershop brat who always attended barbershop rehearsals and conventions with her father, Charlie, a member of the 7-time International men’s chorus champions, The Louisville Thoroughbreds. Louisville had many men’s championship quartets, so she feels she got her barbershop “chops” singing tags with the guys from quartets like Bluegrass Student Union, Second Edition, Interstate Rivals, Revival, and Gas House Gang. After she joined the women to sing, it wasn’t long before the four girls of Swinglish Mix found each other and made their mark as part of Sweet Adelines International. They started singing together in 1995 and have performed all over the United States plus Canada, Sweden, and New Zealand.
Patty is a vocal coach and now directs two well-known barbershop choruses in the Bay Area. Ladies can visit with Patty at Sweet Adelines' Mid-Size Regional Champions in Petaluma, the Pacific Empire Chorus, where she enjoys bringing women of all ages together to have fun learning to sing and dance as one and to impact an audience with every performance! She also directs the men of the Barbershop Harmony Society's Napa Valley Harmonizers where she enjoys performing shows close to home and her family in Napa!
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Bill Hare
Bill Hare has been a full-time recording engineer/producer for 35 years, and is recognized as a pioneer in bringing pop/rock production techniques to recorded contemporary a cappella.
Over the decades, Bill has recorded and/or mixed acclaimed albums for some of the best-known Contemporary A Cappella groups around the globe - from The Swingle Singers to The King’s Singers in the UK, Basix to Vocal Line in Denmark, Italy's Cluster, The Ghost Files, Alti & Bassi and Maybe6ix, German supergroups Wise Guys, Amarcord and Maybebop to name just a few, as well as artists from dozens of other countries from Australia to Zimbabwe.
Of course, at the same time he also covered the USA from his home base in California, working with top American acts including The House Jacks, m-pact, Pentatonix, Peter Hollens, Street Corner Symphony, NoTa, Duwende, The Backbeats, Brian Wilson/The Beach Boys as well as working on the hit NBC Television show The Sing- Off.
Bill’s story was also told in the original book version of Pitch Perfect, from which the popular movies were adapted. Bill is the world’s most awarded individual Contemporary A Cappella producer, including more than 70 appearances on BOCA, over 100 CARA nominations, nearly 40 albums in the RARB "Picks of the Year" lists, and 11 "DeeBee" awards since 1987 in the Vocal Jazz category from Downbeat Magazine. Numerous appearances at the top of Billboard, iTunes, and other major charts. Multiple Gold and Platinum record certifications, as well as multiple Grammy Awards and nominations. |
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Angie Doctor
Angie is a jazz singer and arranger, has brought her extensive experience in solo and small group harmony singing to workshops and festivals as a judge and clinician for over 35 years, and has been an additional singer for groups such as The Manhattans, Heatwave, Gene Chandler, Barbara Lewis, Billy Paul, and many others. She is a studio singer and voice-over talent, is the soprano in the jazz vocal quartet Clockwork and was the Girl Bob in the wackiest of all a cappella groups in the last 6 years of their 36-year run, The Bobs. Additionally, she has been singer and soloist for music projects with Bobby McFerrin, Sufjan Stevens, Sweet Honey in the Rock, John Zorn, Meredith Monk, performing at venues that include Zellerbach in Berkeley, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and the Philharmonie Berlin. Her vocal work is on many recording projects, including as a featured soloist on the Grammy-nominated recording of Leonard Bernstein’s “Mass” (Harmonia Mundi), conducted by Kent Nagano. Angie has recorded two albums of a cappella jazz duets with Dan Schumacher of “The Bobs”, arranged, recorded and produced by Richard Bob Greene. He Said, She Said, “Duets For Two Voices” and “Two: Vol. 2”.
A member of the San Francisco Bay Area vocal music community since 1995, her latest project was as Music Supervisor/Vocal Director/Arranger for a new musical about the life of Betty Reid Soskin, at Z Space in San Francisco March/April 2024. Angie was the vocal jazz ensemble instructor for all voice majors at the California Jazz Conservatory from 2014 through Spring 2020 and has been teaching a vocal jazz ensemble for community singers at the JazzSchool in Berkeley, California since 2014. More info and music can be found at angiedoctor.com. |
 
Interested in Competing?
We are always seeking groups who would like to compete in our events.
Groups of any style are welcome, but you must have between 3 and 12 members. We have a rule book which explains many of the details of the event, which you can see by clicking here. All groups must audition in order to compete. Generally this is done by sending a current tape and photo, although live auditions are sometimes arranged. The purpose of the audition is to make sure the group is appropriate for the Festival and to help the Director determine the performance order. If a group has competed previously, the audition process may be waived.
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